Why Can't This Night Go On Forever
by hangenfics
Summary: Another story of our next generation children co-written by my fantastic partner (thoslittleghosts on tumblr) and myself!


The school dance was going better than Leah had expected. Most of the songs that played were cheerful, so she could sway her hips and pretend she knew what she was doing. In addition, she had gone with her friends to the little ball, which made her feel less uncomfortable with the situation.

John had arranged a lame excuse to invite Emma. Of course the dark-haired girl had read behind that fake façade.

"It's not like I have anything better to do anyways." Emma had answered.

Before John could open his mouth to protest, she gave him a peck on the cheek. John started to stumble upon his own words, stuttering. Yup, he sure was a master at hiding his crush. The girl chuckled out loud. "See ya tomorrow, Sprinkles."

Her own nickname for him due to his freckles.

For James it was a lot easier. He had a boyfriend after all. The ginger boy insisted that Thales didn't have to go with him, since his boyfriend could be the only senior year person there. Still, the English-Brazilian boy didn't feel like missing his boyfriend's first dance. Literally everyone in their friends' group agreed that Thales was a blessing.

As for Leah, Akira had invited her. They both agreed to go with each other in advance, planning to just go as best friends and have an awesome time.

When Emma and Leah sat on the little couch that was placed in the gymnasium, the black-haired girl told Leah that Akira had gently turned down a few girls who tried to ask him out before he even had an agreement with her. However, Leah couldn't understand why Emma was telling her that. This was Akira they were talking about, of course he would have a few (if not many) girls who were interested in him. He was nice, outgoing and everyone in high school knew who he was. What was the novelty of it?

After Leah pointed all of those things, Emma facepalmed herself, letting out a sigh. "I'm disappointed, but definitely not surprised. Still dense, are we?"

"Uh?" Leah looked completely puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

Emma just laughed and got up from the couch. "C'mon, Leah! We can't waste your 15 years of precious time!" She offered her hand to Leah, while showing her tongue off a little bit. She always did that as a playful sign.

The blonde was suspicious about the sentence of her friend, but still decided to take her hand. The night would not go on forever, anyways.

As soon as Leah rose, however, a slow song started playing on the speakers. She could not identify it, which was a bit annoying. Shouldn't balls like this play songs that all teenagers knew?

"Hey, Starshine…" Emma started, making Leah snap out of her little trance. "I think that's my queue to leave!"

Before the golden-haired girl could ask what her friend meant _again_ , she felt someone poking her shoulder. Turning her back to see whom it was, she encountered a very smiley Akira.

"Milady, may I say that you look gorgeous in this dress?" He said, bowing exaggeratedly.

Leah grinned sweetly at him, and rolled her eyes playfully. Only Akira could be the most charming and weirdest person ever at the same time. Besides, Leah didn't think she was anywhere near beautiful. For him, of course, it was completely contrary.

Akira always thought Leah was pretty, but tonight she looked absolutely… stunning. He hadn't missed the few stares when she entered the hall or when she danced.

Her aqua dress was up to her ankles with rims slightly embedded with sparkling blue details. The body of the dress had a heart-shaped neckline, that hugged a more lighter material forming the sleeves. These were drawn up from her elbow, spreading out loosely and then folded towards her wrists with little bands securing them inside.

Her hair had light curls at the ends, making it look like a golden river cascading down her back. On the top of her head, she had on a silver headband with two stars on it. She would never let her passion for the universe pass unnoticed.

Akira then examined her features. He had noted she was wearing light make-up, something he had only seen on rare occasions. He had also noticed a necklace chain peeking through her neckline, inwardly smiling at her never taking off his gift. Then quietly, his eyes trailed towards her lips. She had on a nude lipstick and Akira couldn't help but stare at them all night. Thoughts began to fill his head, like what sort of flavor it was. Could it be strawberry or maybe vanilla? It made them look even softer than usual. Wait a minute, he inwardly shook his head. Why was he even thinking this?

 _Because you love her, jerk. And you won't even try to tell her._ He replied to himself in his thoughts. For an unknown reason, his conscience sounded a lot like Emma.

It was no new thing that Akira harboured some feelings for Leah. Anyone who knew him had picked up little pieces of this fact. Although it took some time for it to dawn into him, much to his friends' chagrin. Though Akira wasn't dumb. He knew when things were different and instead of ignoring or wallowing in it by himself, he decided to consult his friends. _Love_. They would tell him. He would have snorted at that over a year ago, but he had talked it over with John and Emma the other day and they provided him with reasons. And then it hit him like a truck. _Leah_ , he had known her literally his whole life and she was there through all his best and worst times… of course he loved her, she was his best friend. But this. This was different. _Really_ different. Lately, when she was in close proximity, he felt unfamiliar longings like bringing her into his arms or planting kisses on her forehead. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to know by core every little detail about her. " _To touch is to memorize,"_ as James would say.

He felt terrible for not being honest. Yet, how could Akira even begin to explain? _So, Leah, I was thinking we should kiss. You know, for research purposes._ No way on earth would he risk ruining their friendship because of some stubborn feelings. He suddenly felt betrayed by his own thoughts. He wanted so much to ignore it and pretend like everything was normal, even if this meant never letting her know that his heart skipped beats whenever she grinned like that towards him.

"You look handsome yourself, Sir Johanssen." Leah spoke, letting out a soft giggle as she proceeded to curtsy at him.

Akira coughed as a poor attempt to hide his blushing cheeks. Then, he reminded himself why he had come to her in the first place.

"Mademoiselle, may I have this dance with you?" He bowed again, though not as exaggerated as the first time.

"Um, apologies my good sir, but I'm afraid I may have to decline." Leah answered.

"Why?"

"Uh..." She whispered towards his ear. "I can't dance for my life, remember? I seriously don't want the whole school laughing at me tonight! So I- think I'll sit this one out."

"Come on, Lay, it's not that hard! Just follow my lead and everything will be fine." He smiled reassuringly. "Promise."

He took her hand and intertwined their fingers, immediately feeling his heart do a flip. Sure, he had held her hands before, but this time was special. There was something safe, almost protective about locking fingers. If one lets their hand loose, the other person will still be holding on. And he wanted her to know exactly that; that if she ever let go, he'd still be there, holding on. The raven-haired boy tried to gently move her out of place but Leah remained still, looking at the floor.

"Hey, I'm up here." he almost whispered, but it managed to make her lift her head. "Don't you trust me?"

She had heard those words a lot of times during her life. Leah was a shy girl to say the least. It was almost a habit of hers to think twice about doing something that involved showing herself in front of an audience. However, every time she thought about giving up, Akira was there. Not only saying these words, as well as making the face that somehow had changed and remained the same. The furrowed eyebrows that almost clenched together and the sympathetic grin that always came along with it. She never told him, but Leah always thought he looked cute when he did that.

"Fine!" Leah said, a little bit louder. Inwardly, she was glad he convinced her to dance. "But only one song!"

Akira didn't even hear the last phrase as he was already leading her to the dance floor, only stopping when they stood in the middle of the gymnasium.

"O-okay." Akira stuttered, mentally slapping himself in the face. He shouldn't be nervous- Leah was the one who didn't know how to dance!

She lifted one eyebrow, having no idea why Akira was so… weird. Since the beginning of the night he had been acting like he was doing something wrong almost every single minute.

"So, I put my hands on your hips because they never lie." Akira had finally gotten his mind in place and made the movement as he spoke.

Leah would have laughed if it wasn't for the sudden electricity that jolted through her whole body when he touched her. _What… just happened...?_ She stared his hands quizzically, trying to understand the mysterious effect that they had on her. Thinking of it, they had never danced together. Well, sometimes Akira would put on some crazy song and drag her around the room, but this was a completely new thing. This was slow and romantic. Besides, she was wearing heels. Leah would normally look up at him, since she was a few inches smaller. Now, if she lifted her head up, they would be face to face. Yeah, that's probably why.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice his other hand lifting up her arm. Surprised with the unusual heat, she gasped.

He chuckled softly, having noticed her little sound. "Hey, you're getting it! Then, your arms stay like this and we move side to side slowly, like this."

Akira placed his weight on his left foot, waiting for Leah to do the same. She looked into his eyes and grinned nervously, following his lead.

"That's it!" he encouraged. "You're doing gre- LAY!"

"What?" she asked, innocently.

"You can't stare at my feet. It's against dancing laws!"

"If I don't do this, I will step on them." she replied quietly.

Akira made a frown. Then, in a bold move, he pulled her even closer. The tall boy intended to make her face him. He may never tell her how he felt, but he would do anything in his will to see her being confident in herself, and if that meant having her look at him straight in the face, then so be it. Besides, for their first dance to be memorable, it needed to be done correctly.

"Akira! What are you-" Leah stopped her sentence as soon as she encountered his eyes.

Those eyes. Sparkling half-lidded eyes.

Leah had seen them before. Every time her father gazed at her mother, she saw them; whenever James talked about his boyfriend, she saw them; once John stared at Emma when the girl wasn't paying attention, she saw them.

She had never seen them directed towards her. And there they were. Akira's eyes. Of all people, _him_. Her best friend.

What she felt in that moment was nowhere near fear or doubt. She was… curious. Leaning in, Leah could now feel his breath on her lips. Warm and sweet. She could sense it was failing every once in a while, ragged and out of rhythm.

He still looked into her eyes, as they hypnotized him. The mixture in her iris were even more entrancing the closer she got. Akira was so close he could count the colors in her eyes. Suddenly, he felt his head bending down a bit to look at her lips, betraying his usual gentleman-like posture. With his heart finally taking over his actions, he slowly leaned in, arms pulling her into his embrace as he tilted his head.

Their lips brushed ever so softly before they closed the space in between them. Leah's hand subconsciously made its way towards his cheek, lightly placing her fingers on his soft skin, parting her lips just a little bit to allow his to stay above hers. Their lips met each other like perfect pieces to a puzzle, firm though gentle, afraid any sudden movements would break the spell. Akira could feel his brain melting down to his neck. Leah's lips were the softest thing he had ever touched with his own and, once he realized that, his heart started to make backflips in his chest.

The yellow-haired girl could've noticed it if she wasn't so immersed into the kiss herself. She couldn't help but smile underneath it. Everything about this felt right. The acceleration of her heart, the match of their lips, the slowing of her breath and Akira…

 _Akira... I'm kissing... I'm kissing Akira!_

She pulled apart abruptly, widening her eyes. Akira was still grinning stupidly until he open his eyes wide as well. They stood there for a few seconds, just staring at each other. Akira's mouth started to quake, trying to make up words to say.

However, before they could say anything, John appeared out of nowhere and placed his arms over their shoulders.

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE EIGHTH GRADE! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU LOSERS!"

Emma, who was behind him, slapped the back of his head so hard it was a miracle it didn't fall off. "Leave them alone!"

"But I-"

"Hey," Emma muttered, ignoring John. "There's an exit behind the gymnasium that leads to a quiet place. I think you two need it."

They nodded their heads as quickly as they could. She pointed at a door hidden behind the party's decoration and the "new couple" ran so fast that Emma barely saw them leaving.

The little place was beautiful, that's one thing to say. There was a little bench wrapped in sunflowers and orchids that seemed like they were taken out from a movie, surrounded by little trees with leaves that looked like emeralds. It really made a lovely scene. Unfortunately, neither of them were in the mood for romance.

Leah sat down on the bench, laying her head on her palms and smashing some flowers on the way. Akira decided to keep his distance, supporting his back on a tree nearby.

"We… kissed." Leah managed to say, now staring at the floor. "We _kissed_."

Akira refused to say anything at all. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't want to say them in fear of making the situation even worse. At this point, he was regretting every decision in his life that lead him to this moment.

He straightaway shooed that thought. Kissing her was... probably the dumbest, but the best thing he had ever done in his 15 years of at what cost anyway? He had changed his mind about being quiet. All he wanted to do now was yell at the top of his lungs.

The light-haired teenager stood still, not having any idea that she was actually thinking out loud. "I never thought I, you… _US."_ The blonde girl was still shocked.

"I'm sorry!" he finally screamed, making Leah look at him with furrowed eyebrows. "I never meant to force you into anything! I wasn't dancing with you because I wanted to kiss you! I mean… I wanted to! But not in front of everyone. Wait, WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING?!"

Now, Leah's eyes were wide as she observed Akira freak out. "Akira…" she whispered, more to herself than to him.

"HEAT OF THE MOMENT! That's the explanation, of course! Slow dance moves and all those lovely couples around us. We were bound to get into the mood, right?! Right…?"

He directed the last word to his best friend, whose hand was now on her mouth, hiding a chuckle. Okay, now he was offended.

"ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME, LEAH MARIE SHORTMAN?!"

Leah just beamed; her cheeks getting a bit red. "I've seen you nervous about a lot of things… I just never thought I would be one of them."

Akira blushed hardly. "Oh…"

"Besides," she lifted up from the bench, going to his direction, glancing at the ground. "It takes two to tango."

Even though he knew exactly what she was talking about, the boy couldn't help but make a joke out of the whole situation. He lifted up one eyebrow, feigning a confused face. "Tango? It was _clearly_ a slow dance, Lay! Do I _have_ to teach this to you too?" He shot her a mischievous grin.

She made the unamused expression Akira knew very well. Inheritance from her father, no doubt. However, the girl was determined to dish things out at this very moment. She wasn't going to give him a "free pass" for this. It was too much to let go. The blonde wanted answers for all of those new emerged feelings she had experienced on the dance floor.

"Tell me something? What exactly are your insides doing right now?" She asked, having no idea what she had meant with that kind of question.

He simpered towards her. He knew _that_ Leah. But he didn't see the point trying to avoid the truth anymore. "They've been in an endless roller coaster for months now."

There it was. The so-called "confession". Somehow, in a way the girl couldn't even begin to describe, she felt relieved. Working with the facts was easier than guessing. Akira was her best friend, after all. She could read him like the back of her hand easily if she wanted to. Furthermore, Leah was also overjoyed, for some reason she still hadn't quite put her finger on.

"How did it happen?"

"I don't know!" Akira threw his arms up in frustration, more towards himself than to her question. It was still difficult to look into her eyes, so he kept gazing at the colorful lights of the saloon, placing his hands in his pants' pockets. "I started to notice little stuff I didn't before. Like the way your cheeks always flush when you talk about the constellations; you have this healing peaceful aura about you that when people look at you, they feel automatically calm; you take care of others and sometimes- most of the time- forget about yourself; how could you be so selfless, Lay? And your eyes…" He breathed. "Wow. They're so… _mesmerising_. They seem to have their own galaxies, and what I'd give to just get lost in them. And when you do that thing with your smile, it lights up my entire day and-" He stopped himself, eyes widening as his cheeks flushed even more, realizing he might have said too much.

Leah, some time between those endearing words, found herself in a half-lidded gaze. She sighed happily, placing her hand on his cheek. Caressing gently with the only intention to make him look at her again. "What you said was perfect. Thank you." The answer to the unasked question that rounded them.

The blonde put her other hand on his face. Having Akira this close never felt weird or embarrassing. In fact, it was soothing. It didn't help that he even leaned into her touch, sighing contently.

"I'll be honest with you, okay?" She started and he nodded. "I don't know what's happening or where this is even going, but for tonight let's just… be happy about it. I feel good and I'd like to assume you do too, so there's not much to think. Let's try all of these weird new feelings tonight! And if everything goes well, maybe tonight could last longer than we thought."

Akira beamed so much he could feel his cheeks starting to ache. He caught her up in his arms, bridal style and started to spin her around.

Leah's guard was down, making his moves completely surprising to her. "Akira! Put me down!"

"You said we should try it, didn't you? I've always wanted to do this!" He made a sneaky smile to her, Leah's face getting redder and redder.

However, she just bit her lower lip, trying to get used to this new heartbeat.

Maybe, just maybe, tonight could go on forever.


End file.
